Samsung union says company offer worse than previous proposal

May 18, 2026, 08:04 am

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Choi Seung-ho, chairman of Samsung Electronics’ National Samsung Electronics Union, said on May 17 that management had presented a revised proposal during an unofficial meeting. The photo shows Choi leaving the Suwon District Court in Gyeonggi Province on May 13 after a hearing on Samsung Electronics’ injunction request seeking to ban illegal strike actions by the union. /Yonhap

Choi Seung-ho, chairman of Samsung Electronics’ National Samsung Electronics Union, claimed on May 17 that the company had presented a revised proposal that was worse than an earlier mediation plan offered by the National Labor Relations Commission.

The union also accused management of pressuring workers by raising the possibility of emergency mediation by the government.

According to the union, labor and management held an unofficial meeting earlier in the day at the request of Yeo Myeong-gu, head of Samsung Electronics’ People Team.

Union officials said management proposed terms that represented a step backward from the earlier post-mediation proposal and suggested that the issue could be resolved through “the chairman’s leadership.”

“We told them the proposal was unacceptable and made clear that if management maintains the same stance during the post-mediation talks on May 18, there will be no agreement,” the union said.

The union explained that the previous mediation proposal included OPI payouts based on achieving 20% EVA (Economic Value Added), along with the creation of an additional bonus pool equivalent to 12% of operating profit if the Device Solutions (DS) Division ranked first in both sales and operating profit.

Under that proposal, the distribution ratio would have been divided 7-to-3 between company-wide and business unit allocations, with the same structure continuing if similar levels of business performance were achieved in the future.

However, the union claimed the company’s revised offer changed the OPI standard to “10% operating profit or 20% EVA” and reduced the additional bonus pool to 9% to 10% of operating profit, applicable only if the DS Division achieved more than 200 trillion won in operating profit.

The distribution ratio was also revised to 6-to-4 between company-wide and business unit allocations, while the duration of the agreement was limited to three years before renegotiation.

The union further alleged that management hinted at the possibility of emergency adjustment measures or arbitration by the government in an effort to pressure labor representatives.

“Management is warning that emergency adjustment or arbitration would cause major damage, but we will not be intimidated,” the union said.

The union has been demanding the removal of bonus caps and the institutionalization of a system allocating 15% of operating profit to bonus funding.

Samsung Electronics and the union are scheduled to resume post-mediation talks at the National Labor Relations Commission in Sejong on the morning of May 18.

#Samsung Electronics #labor union #Choi Seung-ho #National Labor Relations Commission #bonus negotiations